After our spectacular start to 1977, Carole and I settled into a familiar boyfriend/girlfriend routine and, although our social life was limited due to lack of money, our sex life was as beautiful as ever. We were still having an amazing time but it was just the two of us. It didn't seem to make any difference, we were still great together.
Carole had told me about her occasional tea breaks with Hazel and the thought of those two getting freaky in the ladies toilets at work was still turning me on.
While Carole was making tea and toast one Saturday morning, I asked her about Hazel, in a general matter-of-fact sort of way.
"Oh, I wondered when her name might come up," she replied in a curt manner.
"Well?" I asked, "you still work with her?"
"Yeah, but she doesn't come for her tea breaks anymore." Carole paused, probably unsure whether to proceed with our conversation. "Anyway, never mind about Hazel. Eat your toast."
I had noticed that she had been a little distracted recently, a little less energy on our dates out at the pubs and restaurants. No drop of energy in bed, though, and I was very glad of that!
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As our relationship developed, I had been thinking about our future, to the point that I thought we might move in together. Carole's room was pretty much self-contained, enough room for a sofa, her bed and a small kitchen area where she created her culinary triumph! And she had almost exclusive use of the bathroom on the landing. My grotty bedsit had no such fineties, no bathroom whatsoever and the toilet was outside in an alleyway behind the shop!
But the locations won out in the end. My grotty bedsit was only ten minutes walk from work. My journey to work from Carole's would mean a ten-minute walk to Camden Town tube station, a crowded ride on the train and a change of tube lines! Probably a total time of almost an hour!
I hadn't told Carole about my deliberations for fear of upsetting the apple cart or even frightening her away. So it seemed that we were quite happy to continue as we were, mostly me visiting her. My place was such a mess!
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I would call Carole two or three times a week to arrange to meet for a drink or just to go to her place. Sometimes, she would say that she couldn't see me and I took that at face value, a genuine response. But over a period of a weeks, we were seeing each other less rather than more and it did start to raise a few doubts in my mind.
One Friday evening when we did see each other, she seemed to be more upbeat than she had been for a few weeks.
"You seem to be a happy soul this evening," I said in complete innocence.
"Well," she said, "remember I told you a few weeks ago that things had cooled off with Hazel? We have been meeting up at her place."
"Nice!" I said, "But please don't keep it from me, I was getting worried about you and me."
"Don't be silly! She has a lovely flat, a lot better than mine." I still wasn't happy about not being included in their nights of sexy fun! "She has a living room, a bedroom, a small kitchen and her own bathroom! Luxury, eh?"
"Wow! Sounds really good. I used to live near Shepherds Bush when I was a little boy. My Mum used to take me to the market, only a couple of stops on the underground. Except the underground in that area is over ground!" I rambled on, reminiscing about when I was six years old in North Kensington.
"Hazel has invited me to go to her place later this evening."
"Oh," was my blunt response. It was clear that I was disappointed, being left out again.
"Hey, I'm sure she'll want to see you again, don't be worried. You can come as well," Carole said but I wasn't very much reassured. As she was getting dressed, I had noticed that she hadn't put on a bra. This horny 19-year-old was turned on by the fact that his girlfriend was going to be travelling around London with her lovely nipples sticking out through her t-shirt!
"How often have you seen Hazel lately then?" I was determined to find out if Carole was being a bit sneaky, keeping secrets to herself.
"Not much, really, maybe once or twice." That sounded a bit vague to my ears. "Suddenly, we stopped meeting for tea breaks then, suddenly, she wants us to get back together again."
Carole's answers still gave the feeling that I was being pushed out.
"Why didn't you call me? It seems like you and Hazel is a bit of a secret that you don't want me to know about," I complained.
"I don't know. When I first went to Hazel's, she didn't ask where you were or anything. Maybe she just wanted me, maybe she's playing us ..."
After all this, I still wasn't happy with her answers but we left her place and headed down to Shepherds Bush. _________________
We met Hazel at her local pub for a drink so I thought things might be OK. But, after our initial welcoming hug, she seemed a little distant towards me. With Carole, she was as normal as usual. There was some whispering going on between them, further fuelling my doubts about the situation. I gave Carole a puzzled look, trying to get her to update me. Eventually, she took me aside.
"She has an awkward situation. The reason she has called me was to see if we would still be as horny for each other like New Year's Eve."
"And?"
"Well, yes, we have been having great sex together." In addition to her protruding nipples, this was making me horny just to hear that. "Not as great as when we are all together, though." That was good to hear. "But, she has a new boyfriend ..." and Carole just left that hanging in the air.
"So, should we go?" I asked.
"Don't be silly, we've only just got here. Besides, I think she wants us to meet him." Great, so we'll be at Hazel's place, playing gooseberry! Still, the pub was still open for another hour or so, might as well gets some more drinks.
Apparently, Hazel's new boyfriend was working late and wouldn't get to the pub before closing time. We were going to go back to Hazel's flat and wait for him to turn up. I was a bit wary about what was going to happen but Carole took the lead and insisted that everything would be OK.
A few drinks later and it was closing time. Hazel had loosened up towards me and I was starting to relax about the situation. We had bought some bottles of beer to take back to Hazel's flat and ambled through a couple of streets and got there within about ten minutes.
She led us inside the building to the rooms she had on the first floor and we made ourselves comfortable. She opened some bottles for the three of us and we sat around, making small talk. And then Hazel spoke.
"Vee, has Carole told you about my new boyfriend?"
"Well, er, yes, that you've got one but nothing else."
"The reason I was a bit funny earlier is that I didn't know that you were coming tonight and it's put me in an awkward situation." I was intrigued as to why this awkward situation existed but I was starting to piece together the circumstances.
"What's that, then?" I asked.
"I told him about me and Carole," uh-oh, I thought, "and he wants a threesome."
I was taken aback. I wasn't expecting that. I thought we were here just to meet Hazel's new boyfriend. Now, my mind was working overtime. Had Carole and Hazel already had this threesome? What was going to happen when he arrives in a sexually-charged state and he finds there are four of us? Will everything fall flat?
Carole chipped in. "What about a foursome?" Typical of her; she seemed to be looking forward to taking charge of a new situation, as she had with Celly and Ginny and with Hazel herself!
I stared blankly into space, waiting for the offer of more beer to puncture the atmosphere.
"You OK, Vee?" Carole asked.